VB vs VUG: how much do they really overlap?
VB (Vanguard Small-Cap ETF, tracking the CRSP US Small Cap) and VUG (Vanguard Growth ETF, tracking the CRSP US Large Cap Growth) overlap by roughly 0% by weight. 0 of VB's top 10 holdings also appear in VUG. A 50/50 blend of the two behaves like about 70 equally-weighted bets (diversification grade A). In short, the two funds hold almost none of the same securities — they are complementary, not redundant.
The same companies, in both funds
These 0 holdings appear in both VB and VUG. The weight columns show how much of each fund each name represents.
| Holding | in VB | in VUG |
|---|
Only in VB
Vanguard Small-Cap ETF — US small-cap. Its biggest holdings that VUG doesn’t have:
| FLEX Flex Ltd. | 0.69% |
| ALAB Astera Labs Inc. | 0.62% |
| CIEN Ciena Corp. | 0.51% |
| RKLB Rocket Lab Corp. | 0.50% |
| CRDO Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. | 0.48% |
| BE Bloom Energy Corp. Class A | 0.47% |
| EME EMCOR Group Inc. | 0.46% |
| JBL Jabil Inc. | 0.45% |
Only in VUG
Vanguard Growth ETF — US large-cap growth. Its biggest holdings that VB doesn’t have:
| NVDA NVIDIA Corp. | 13.10% |
| AAPL Apple Inc. | 12.32% |
| MSFT Microsoft Corp. | 8.99% |
| GOOGL Alphabet Inc. Class A | 5.95% |
| AVGO Broadcom Inc. | 5.17% |
| AMZN Amazon.com Inc. | 4.85% |
| GOOG Alphabet Inc. Class C | 4.68% |
| META Facebook Inc. Class A | 3.73% |
So — essentially different. Should you hold both?
VB and VUG hold almost none of the same securities — they are complementary, not redundant. Held together they genuinely broaden your exposure — a 50/50 blend reaches ~70 effective positions (grade A), because they hold largely different securities.
Holdings as of — VB: May 31, 2026 (Vanguard); VUG: May 31, 2026 (Vanguard). Refreshed monthly. Overlap is measured across each fund’s largest holdings (top 50); the diffuse long tail barely moves the math.
See this for YOUR whole portfolio, free →VB vs VUG — FAQ
- How much do VB and VUG overlap?
- VB and VUG overlap by approximately 0% measured by portfolio weight — that is the share of the smaller fund's holdings (by weight) that also sit inside the other. 0 of VB's 10 largest holdings are also held by VUG. They share 0 of their listed top holdings in total.
- Is it redundant to hold both VB and VUG?
- Because they hold almost none of the same securities — they are complementary, not redundant, holding both is not redundant — each fund covers largely different holdings, so together they broaden your exposure. A 50/50 blend has an effective 70 positions and a A diversification grade.
- What does VUG hold that VB doesn't?
- VUG's largest holdings that VB doesn't hold include NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, GOOGL, AVGO. Its category is US large-cap growth, versus VB's US small-cap.
- Which is more concentrated, VB or VUG?
- VB's top 10 holdings are 29% of its listed weight; VUG's are 73%. The more concentrated fund leans harder on its largest names.